Shield.



S. SZALKAY.

. SHIELD.

' APPLICATION FILED FEB. 10, 1914.

Patented Sept. 8, 1914.

' VV/T/ridsis.

away from the so dier in UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed February 10, 1914. Serial No. 817,898.

Patented 'Sept. 8, 1914.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known tat I, STEVEN SZALKAY, a

subject of the King of Hungary, residing at lint, in the county of Genesee and State of Michigan, have usefu Improvements in Shields, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to shields to be used as armor soldiers while in battle, provide a portable device which may handledand trans orted with facility, and quickly set u an put into use, and with equal facility e packed and ready vfor transportation.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a shield or protection for and is designed to which will deflect the steel acketed bullets of modern shoulder firewhich is comparatively light, and jointed so that it may be folded up into compact form for transportation, and which may be quickly folded up and re-located during the advance of an attacking party in a battle. The shield is designed to act as a covering or a partial cover-mg for the solenem the s ield are so arranged as to upwardly deflect any strikin bullets, and guide them roximity tothe armor, thus eliminatingt e ossibility of the nearb soldier bein struc by a bullet glancing f rom the shield or armor. I

he invention consists in a metal shield constructed of sections suitably hinged together, and adapted to be set up or folded into compact form, and ina novel arrangement of the walls of the shield as will be hereinafter set forth and claimed.

n te accompanying drawi s I have illustrated one complete examp e of the physical embodiment of my invention constructed according to the best mode I have so far devised for the practical application of the principles of the invention.

igure 1 is a pers ective view from the front showin the sli' ield erected for use. Fig. 2 is a p an view of the inside of the shield showing the sections flattened out.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the shield with the sections com actly folded together for transportation. ig. 4 is a detail view showing the manner of interlocking two plates or two thicknesses of the shield.

In the preferred embodiment of my inven invented certaln new and improvements in I and 7. All of the tion, as shown in the drawings, the shield is constructed of light hard steel ground to give it a smooth even surface, and the shield as illustrated in the drawings weighs apthirteen or fourteen pounds, be understood to be easy of handling and manipulation.

The s ield comprises eight sections 1, 1, i

2, 2, 3, 3, 4,.ana 4, the sections 1, 1 and 2, 2 forming one side while the sections 3, 3, and 4, 4 provide the other side of the shield. The two sides are hinged together as shown at 5, while each section is hinged to its adoining section by means of the hinges 6 hinge plates 8 are secured to the metal of the shield by means of weldmg or rivets, and the sections are adapted to 0 d ,on the line of these hinges so that the shield may be compactly packed, as in Fig. 3.

In Fig. 1 the shield is shown as set up,

e seen that the triangular secand u wardly slanting corner or edge 9, from w ich the out in fan shape. The sections and 3 are each provided with a ort hole through which the soldier or so diers behmd the shield fire upon the enemy. In Fig. 1, it will be seen that the converging lines of the shield toward the upper point 11 will cause all strikin bullets to be deflec d upwardly and t us eliminate the menace or danger to surrounding s ldiers.

If desired, it Wlll be readily understood that the sections 1 and 4, in Fig. 1, may be folded k, or swung intoward ea'ch other on the soldier may be more completely incased and in some instances this will be desirable and preferable.

' also use springs 14 in connection with the hinge joints to assist in spreading and holding the plates or sections in alined p0sition.

While the weight of the shield ordinarily will be suflicient to hold the shield upon the ground, as shown, it is sometimes desirable that the shield be anchored to the ground. purpose I employ metal stakes as indicated at 12, which have bent ends hinged at 13 to some of the sections. When these stakes are driven into the wind, it will ap arent that the shiel is firmly and securey held and will be diflicult of dislodgment. The shield'or armor is of metal approximately sixteen one-hundredths of an inch thick, and is approximately about eighty inches from front to rear, forty inches wide, and has a height of about two feet. I do not, however, limit myself to the dimensions given as it will of course be understood that the size of the shield may be increased or diminished as required.

While I have illustrated the shield comprising eight sections, or coupled plates, it will be understood, oi course, that I may employ a lesser number of sections at eac side of the shield. Two, for instance, coul be used at each side of the center line in Fig. 1, and the shield thus composed coul folded as usual, but the packet would be much lar er than the packet indicated in Fig. 3. T 1e sections can be joined by hinged members, and I contemplate attac ing the hinged members to the sections either by electrically welding the coupling members to the sections, or by riveting the members. In either event the outer surface of the shield when set up presents a perfectly smooth face against which an impigning bullet may strike and be deflected In Fig. 4 I show a modified form of the invention embodyin two plates as 20 and 25 21 which are locke toget er by means of the key 22 carried by the plate 20 which is passed through the slot 23 in the plate 21. In this manner when I employ two lies to the shield the plates or plies are loo ed toso gether.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

A foldable portable metallic shield having 35 two triangular sides hinged together at an angle and supported on the lower edge of said sides, said shield having a porthole at the a ex of the an lo, and each side of the shiel comprised o a series of hinged tri- 40 angular sections, whereby the shield may be folded into compact form.

In testimon whereof I afiix my signature in presence 0 two witnesses.

STEVEN SZALKAY.

Witnesses:

JOHN F. BAKER, Wu. J. Ma'oumn. 

